My mother listed me as a Jehovah's Witness at the Hospital for a pending emergency surgery

by adjusted knowledge 17 Replies latest jw friends

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  JeffT

  Assuming your in the United States, unless your unconscious or otherwise unable to answer questions about your health history the hospital has no business asking anybody else personal questions. You might ask to speak to some one from hospital admin about the issue. I would minimize discussion of the family religious issues and simply point out that you may have medical issues your mother doesn't know about and they should talk to you not here.

  My guess is that whoever took the information probably didn't have any reason to believe your mother would would not give an accurate answer. Of course, that person has no knowledge of how sneaky JW's can be such situations.
• 

  quellycatface

  I hope you are okay and making a good recovery.

  You must verify with your GP your stand on medical care. It's important.
• 

  NAVYTOWN

  If you're old enough to have a wife, then you are past the age when your Mother should be answering questions for you. My advice is to just go to the hospital and have them delete any reference in your files about 'Jehovah's Witnesses'. Direct them to ONLY listen to your WIFE's instructions should you not be able to answer questions yourself. Inform your Mother that you are no longer a JW and that she shouldn't involve herself in your medical treatment in the future.
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  AlphaMan

  I agree with those who say you need to get this straightened out with the Hospital to delete from your records any mention of you being a Jehovah Witness. You also need to get the matter straight with your Mother that you know all about JW's accepting blood fractions and taking blood being a conscience matter, and that you & your wife will decide on whatever future medicial treatment you wish to pursue. If you don't make it clear to her, if by chance you ever have another medical issue......it will turn into an embarrassing three ring circus with your Mother & her Elders butting in to try to influence the Hospital on what your beliefs on blood transfusions are.
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  rebel8

  1. Change your record with the hospital immediately. If you're already discharged then write them a letter. If you're in the US, you have a legal right to write an addendum to your medical record. Do it. You never know when you might need to be admitted again.

  2. The elder may very well have found you because you listed yourself as a jw (by your failure to object when your mom told the staff your religion). HIPAA allows directory info to be given unless you specify no info is to be given to anyone. Clergy of all sorts come in to the main desk and the hospital and pick up the lists of their flock to visit. (TIP: If you don't want clergy to visit, have your record changed to "declined to state religious preference".)

  3. CC all your providers on your letter about your religious status. State you accept blood if necessary (if that's what you want).

  By not objecting, you have potentially put yourself in danger.
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  Hortensia

  Off topic - Billy -- When will you and others on this forum stop sneering at janitors and window-washers? There are other ways to say that you feel the JWs are unqualified to offer medical advice, better ways than cheap shots at hard-working people.
• 

  Billy the Ex-Bethelite

  Hortensia: "Billy -- When will you and others on this forum stop sneering at janitors and window-washers?"

  I'm not sneering at janitors... as long as they aren't pretending to be "God's chosen channel". This is a sneer at Tony Morris, in particular. Don't forget that this former janitor is now making life and death decisions for millions of JWs. Not only have I heard his Vietnam to janitor to CO to GB story too many times, I've heard him sneering at those of us who return to get "higher education" for being faithless and wasting time. For that matter, I've heard JW experiences of how pre-med students have dropped out of university in order to join the ranks of janitor and window-washer pioneers. In my previous congregation, there were sheeples barely on speaking terms since they were battling over cleaning accounts. I might hire them to do cleaning, but I won't hand them a scalpel and ask them to do surgery on me. Yet the lives and minds of some of my own family members are captive to, well, literally, janitors.

  "There are other ways to say that you feel the JWs are unqualified to offer medical advice, better ways than cheap shots at hard-working people."

  Don't like my humor? Show the better ways by writing your own jokes and PhotoShop pictures yourself. I'll even help get you started: You might have the elder coming in to offer the exJW hospital patient scriptural encouragement or a discount on Trimline pinstriping, but that is a dated reference. I don't know if any JWs are in the Trimline business anymore.

  Or if you want to ban humor and make this a place where every poster simply states, "I don't feel that JWs are qualified to offer medical advice," fine. Just brick up the windows and install some interior decorations from the 90s and we'll all be right back in WT drone world restyled as exJW drone world.

  Geez, this is like coming and finding my JW mom waiting here to scold me in front of my friends for being a goof-off.

  Off topic - Billy -- When will you learn to never, ever come here when you've had a sucky day and are in a rotten mood?
• 

  AudeSapere

  Let the hospital know that you want the JW information removed. Then check back in a week or so to make sure that it really *is* removed.

  I had a related situation - and surprise visit - myself that I wrote about here: http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/medical/95897/1/Elders-Will-Be-Notified-WILL-FIND-YOU-in-the-Hospital#.U-B4ws73dCg

  I hope you are well on the mend...!

  -Aude.